FY2000 Annual Performance Plan - REVISED AND FINAL

February 29, 2000

Preface

The Employment Standards Administration (ESA) is an enforcement and benefit delivery agency in the U.S. Department of Labor. With the passage of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the Department of Labor and its Agencies began to look at strategic planning in a new way. Passage of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) motivated us to view our strategic planning presentation with more of an eye toward the perspective of the American public, the businesses, and the workers that we serve.

ESA’s previous strategic plan was developed to cover fiscal years 1997 through 2002 and to support the goals of the Secretary of Labor. It is important that the Strategic Plan clearly delineate, for every reader, how ESA’s goals directly support those of the Secretary and link program activities at all levels to the broader goals of the Department. To that end, work on the refinement of ESA’s goals, measures and strategies and the development of the systems that support them continues.

ESA is in the process of revising its Strategic Plan to cover fiscal years 1999 through 2004. In that developmental process, we have considered comments made by our reviewers and stakeholders in the Department and from external reviewers such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Congress and those of our program stakeholders. Progress on the initial goals informed our planning as we developed goals for FY 2004.

This Revised and Final FY 2000 Annual Performance Plan is directly related to ESA’s developing Strategic Plan. ESA’s previous three strategic goals have been replaced with two new strategic goals supported by a series of outcome goals more directly reflecting the format used by the Department and better delineating the work of the four major Program Offices in ESA. This document presents our new format and revised goals that relate to our strategic plan for fiscal years 1999 through 2004.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Overview of the ESA Strategic Plan

Mission

Vision

ESA Strategic and Outcome Goals

ESA Organization

Strategic Goals and the FY 2000 Budget

DOL Strategic Goal – A Secure Workforce

DOL Strategic Goal – Quality Workplaces

FY 2000 Performance Goals and Indicators

ESA Budgeted Resources by DOL Strategic Goal

Summary of ESA Performance Goals

Performance Goals with Alignments to DOL and ESA

Performance Measurement

Current Program Information Systems

Data Challenges

Linking Costs to Performance

Cross-Cutting Programs and Issues

Maintaining a Strategic Management Focus

Information Technology

Year 2000 Readiness

Management Controls and Systems

Financial Management

Human Resources

Conclusion

List of Acronyms

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FY 2000 Annual Performance Plan
Employment Standards Administration

Introduction

The Employment Standards Administration (ESA) is both an enforcement and a benefit delivery agency. ESA administers programs to implement over 100 laws enacted by Congress to protect the basic rights of workers, including minimum wage, child labor, and overtime pay standards, equal employment opportunities for employees of Federal contractors, workers’ compensation benefits, as well as workers’ rights as union members. Nearly every worker in America is protected by laws and regulations administered by ESA programs. The more than 4000 employees who carry out ESA’s mission are located in offices throughout the country to make ESA programs as accessible as possible to the American public.

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Overview of the ESA Strategic Plan

The Employment Standards Administration submitted a revised Strategic Plan, fiscal years 1997 through 2002, to the U.S. Congress in September 1998. A Strategic Plan covering fiscal years 1999 through 2004 is currently under development. Key elements of the ESA Strategic Plan are included here and provide the foundation and context for ESA’s activities and the Revised and Final FY 2000 Annual Performance Plan.

ESA’s previous three strategic goals have been replaced with two new strategic goals supported by a series of outcome goals more directly reflecting the format used by the Department and better delineating the work of the Agency’s four major Program Offices. ESA’s outcome goals are presented later in this chapter. ESA’s Strategic Goals are to:

ESA’s strategic goals support the Departmental goals which integrate the objectives of all DOL agencies and programs to help America’s workers meet the challenges they face today and in the future. ESA’s work is integral to the Department’s success in achieving the Departmental strategic goals for A Secure Workforce and Quality Workplaces. The performance and outcome goals in ESA’s Annual Performance Plan support both the Departmental and ESA strategic goals. The Departmental Strategic and Outcome Goals are:

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Mission

As an enforcement and benefit delivery Agency, ESA is composed of four major programs: the Wage and Hour Division (WHD); the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP); the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP); and the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).

The Wage and Hour Division enhances the welfare and protects the rights of the nation's workers through enforcement of several Acts: the Federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; the Employee Polygraph Protection Act; field sanitation and housing standards in the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and, a number of employment standards and worker protections provided in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Additionally, the WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to Federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs increases equal employment opportunities (EEO) for employees of Federal contractors. Through Executive Order 11246, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, OFCCP enforces equal opportunity standards and affirmative action for women, minorities, Vietnam era veterans, and persons with disabilities employed by the more than 200,000 contractors that participate in the Federal procurement process.

The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs mitigates the financial burden on certain workers, or their dependents or survivors, resulting from work-related injury, disease, or death, through the provision of wage replacement and cash benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits. The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program provides income and medical cost protection and return-to-work services to civilian employees of the Federal Government injured at work, and to certain other designated groups. The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) program provides similar protection to private sector workers engaged in certain maritime and related employment. The Black Lung Benefits program provides protection to the nation’s coal miners totally disabled by pneumoconiosis or to their survivors.

The Office of Labor-Management Standards promotes internal union democracy and financial integrity and protects certain rights of union members in administering and enforcing provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and related laws. Under the LMRDA, OLMS resolves union member complaints concerning union officer elections, union trusteeships, and other matters pertaining to safeguards for union democracy; administers statutory safeguards for union funds and assets; and makes reports required of labor unions and others available for public disclosure. The Division of Statutory Programs assures that appropriate arrangements are in place to protect the rights of affected mass transit workers when federal funds are used to acquire, improve, or operate a transit system. These statutory requirements are set forth in section 5333(b) of Title 49 U.S. Code (formerly section 13(c) of the Federal Transit Act).

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Vision

ESA will work to protect the rights of American workers and achieve compliance with the workplace laws it administers. We will work in partnership with leaders in business, industry, unions, city, State and local governments, public and non-profit interest groups, and other Federal agencies to increase the effectiveness of our enforcement and outreach efforts, to encourage voluntary compliance, and to assure equitable and fair workplaces. We will address customer and stakeholder interests and concerns by emphasizing quality in program administration and customer service, and will provide covered individuals who experience work-related injuries the best and most cost-effective assistance and services possible. ESA will also make effective, prudent use of available technology to accomplish program work and advance the statutory mandates of our programs.

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ESA Strategic and Outcome Goals

In considering the agency’s Strategic Plan for FY 1999 – FY 2004, and to support the Secretary’s Strategic and Outcome goals, ESA established two new strategic goals to replace its previous goals. Each of the new strategic goals is supported by five outcome goals to guide the development of programs and activities for the Agency. Through the Departmental and ESA strategic and outcome goals, ESA staff and the American public can see a direct link between ESA’s mission and its activities.

ESA is focused on its vision of achieving universally applied fair practices in the American workplace. To that end, each of ESA’s four major Program Offices, directed by legislative mandates, target resources to achieve the most effective results for the available resources. Through the collective efforts of each of ESA’s four major Program Offices, workers and employers are better informed of their rights and responsibilities. Better and more readily available information generally results in behavior changes which improve compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, Equal Opportunity laws, the safeguarding of union democracy and the minimization of the impact of work-related injuries. For employers who are not voluntarily complying, however, enforcement is the result. Either way, change occurs in workplaces as a result of these efforts. Whether this workplace change is driven by compliance assistance, partnership, education, recognition or enforcement activities, the ultimate result is to create better workplaces, ESA’s first strategic goal.

ESA and its major Program Offices are responsible for the stewardship of resources, trust funds, and the management of programs and services. To support the Program Offices in achieving their goals, ESA’s strategic planning establishes a management framework which links the program, administrative and management operations of the agency. This helps ensure that the Program Offices in ESA work together to achieve the Agency’s overall goals and that they are supported by the administrative and management systems and operations necessary for their goal accomplishment. Through effective management and integrated delivery of its various programs and services, ESA will demonstrate a positive impact on the welfare and rights of American workers which will secure public confidence, ESA’s second strategic goal.

The following strategic and outcome goals demonstrate a unified purpose and direction for all of the programs within ESA.

Associated with each of the above goals are specific programs designed to implement key Departmental and ESA priorities including: compliance with labor standards laws and regulations - with particular emphasis on young workers - and union integrity standards; the provision of timely benefits for covered miners, longshore workers and Federal employees; effective intervention for injured Federal employees to enable them to recover to the full extent possible and to ensure that benefit funding will be available as intended for eligible employees; and preventing wage disparities as well as increasing compliance of Federal contractors with equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination provisions of their Federal contracts.

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ESA Organization

The Employment Standards Administration is the largest agency in the Department of Labor. ESA is organized into four major components: the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, and the Office of Labor-Management Standards. An Assistant Secretary heads ESA and each program is headed by a Deputy Assistant Secretary or, in the case of the Wage and Hour Division, an Administrator. ESA’s program staff are located in regional, district, area, and field offices throughout the country to ensure that the enforcement and benefit delivery programs are accessible to the American public. The ESA organization chart follows:

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Strategic Goals and the FY 2000 Budget

The FY 2000 budget of the Employment Standards Administration directly supports two of the Departmental strategic goals: A Secure Workforce and Quality Workplaces. The discussion which follows aligns ESA’s budgeted resources with the Departmental strategic goals, describing the processes and resources to be used in Fiscal Year 2000 in advancing these goals and highlighting ESA’s new initiatives.

Each DOL and ESA strategic goal consists of intermediate outcome goals that in turn contain specific ESA performance goals for the fiscal year. Each performance goal result is measured by an indicator, which is used to assess progress toward goal accomplishment.

While each ESA performance goal is presented with the alignment to both DOL and ESA strategic and outcome goals, the following narrative presentation of the final appropriation for the FY 2000 budget is presented with its direct alignment to the DOL goals.

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DOL Strategic Goal -- A Secure Workforce

In support of the Departmental Secure Workforce strategic goal, ESA promotes the economic security of workers and families. ESA is committed to protecting workers’ hours, wages, and other conditions when on the job; ensuring the fiscal integrity of the workers’ compensation benefit funds it administers; assisting injured Federal workers to expeditiously receive the care and assistance needed to return to work; and enforcing the standards for financial and democratic integrity of labor unions, which represent workers. Employer compliance with labor standards laws including young workers is both promoted and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division. The financial integrity of three benefit funds is the responsibility of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. The Office of Labor-Management Standards administers and enforces standards for union democracy and financial integrity and certifies protections for certain transportation workers.

Approximately $316.0 million¹ is budgeted for administrative expenses for the promotion of the economic security of workers and families in FY  2000. That figure represents $294.1 million in salaries and expenses, including $9.5 million for new initiatives, and $21.8 million from Fair Share funds in the FECA Special Benefits Account. The major new FY 2000 initiatives associated with this goal are described below:

¹ Includes Program Direction and Support overhead.

New Initiatives to Increase Compliance with Worker Protection Laws

FY 2000 Wage and Hour Division

• The WHD participates in one of the Departmental cross-cutting initiatives. Funding was provided to begin constructing an integrated information technology system to achieve excellence in customer service by providing workers and employers – particularly small businesses – with a nationwide toll-free service to assure (1) prompt and accurate referral of calls unrelated to Wage and Hour’s activities to the proper agency; (2) easily accessible, quick and accurate responses to commonly asked questions regarding Wage and Hour programs; and (3) on-line and centralized telephone complaint intake. ($1.7 million)
• Funding was provided to promote labor standards compliance through a nationwide education initiative by developing and building non-traditional partnerships with intermediary organizations and institutions that provide services to workers and employers. These partnerships will facilitate much more targeted and effective dissemination of labor standards information to new and small businesses, and to workers, to increase voluntary compliance. ($500,000)
• Resources were provided to sustain and enhance Wage and Hour’s initiatives to achieve labor standards compliance, including child labor, in garment manufacturing ("No Sweat" initiative) and agriculture ("Salad Bowl" initiative) with greater sustained presence, more timely and effective litigation, criminal prosecution, and enhanced education and outreach efforts. ($4.25 million and 30 FTE)
• Resources were included to support Wage Hour’s share of the ESA-wide information technology support initiative for managing, training, operating, and maintaining ESA ADP resources. ($1.0 million)

FY 2000 Office of Labor-Management Standards

• Funding was provided to continue development and implementation of a system to allow electronic filing of reports required under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), improve public access to these reports via the Internet, and complete implementation of a computerized desk audit program to detect and correct reporting deficiencies. ($1.0 million in new funding; an additional $1.0 million is included in the base)
• Resources were included to support OLMS’ share of the ESA-wide information technology support initiative for managing, training, operating, and maintaining ESA ADP resources. ($300,000)

New Initiatives to Protect Worker Benefits

FY 2000 Office of Workers' Compensation Programs:

Significant improvements in claims processing, case management, and customer service have characterized OWCP programs in recent years. OWCP has also been very successful in containing administrative and benefit costs and enhancing the security and integrity of its benefit funds. Technological improvement has been the cornerstone of these achievements. OWCP has increased automation of manual work processes, communications and information management. Additional resources are included in the FY 2000 budget to continue these achievements, specifically the extension of OWCP’s ability to acquire and apply new information technologies. It should be noted that none of these activities are increased costs to General Revenues, rather each Special or Trust Fund will bear the costs.

FY 2000 FECA Program Initiatives:

• Funding was provided to continue to transform FECA to full electronic and "paperless" operations with the purchase and installation of imaging equipment and upgrade of networks in FECA district offices. ($5.0 million)
• Through development and delivery of technical training, funds were provided to enable FECA claims staff to effectively operate in a new electronic environment integrated with better claims processing and injury management. ($1.3 million)

FY 2000 Longshore Program Initiatives:

• Resources were provided to continue automation of program operations and migration to "paperless" offices; to provide enhanced customer technical assistance and outreach; and to train staff to effectively use new automated systems. ($185,000)

FY 2000 Black Lung Program Initiatives:

• Funding was provided to ensure that program staff has the knowledge and skills needed to effectively utilize the new operating system and to introduce a secure Internet database so that MSHA staff can access certain Black Lung program system data related to their inspector activities. ($359,000)

Resources were included to support OWCP’s share of an ESA-wide information technology support initiative for managing, training, operating, and maintaining ESA ADP resources. ($249,000)

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DOL Strategic Goal -- Quality Workplaces

ESA is committed to fostering workplaces that allow equal opportunities for all employees paid with Federal contracting funds, including women, people of color, the disabled, and covered veterans. Nearly a quarter of the civilian workforce—about 26 million workers—is employed by Federal contractors or subcontractors.

The ESA Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs enforces the laws that require Federal contractors to take affirmative action to promote an equal employment opportunity workplace, and not discriminate. The laws are designed to advance equal employment opportunities generated by Federal taxpayers’ dollars so not to perpetuate employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, color, disability or status as a covered veteran. ESA’s FY 2000 budget contains approximately $76.0² million including $5.2 million for the initiatives described below:

² Includes Program Direction and Support overhead.

New Initiatives to Foster Equal Opportunity Workplaces

FY 2000 Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs:

• OFCCP and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are participating in an Administration Equal Pay Initiative to focus additional resources on providing employers with the necessary tools to assess and improve their pay policies, and to educate the public on the importance of this issue as well as their rights and responsibilities. OFCCP helps women obtain and retain employment in non-traditional jobs by identifying and disseminating model employer practices and assists contractors in identifying resources for recruiting qualified women employees. Avenues used to identify and disseminate model practices and recruiting resources include the new nationwide network of One-Stop Career Centers established by the Workforce Investment Act. OFCCP has also increased outreach, education, and technical assistance to federal contractors on equal pay issues, by providing legal guidelines and industry best practices. ($4.2 million and 20 FTE)
• OFCCP is also participating in an Administration-wide Discrimination Measurement Initiative which is designed to document and promote further understanding of the role discrimination plays in U.S. society. This is a multi-agency, multi-year initiative to develop, implement, and track data elements that measure discrimination. The Department joins the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development in this effort to improve the measurement of discrimination in America. In FY 2000, OFCCP, working with BLS and ASP, is establishing a research agenda and evaluating feasible methodologies to accurately measure and track discrimination in the workplace. ($ .5 million)
• Resources were included to support OFCCP’s share of the ESA-wide information technology support initiative for managing, training, operating, and maintaining ESA ADP resources. ( $430,000)

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FY 2000 Performance Goals and Indicators

This section presents several items of information focused on the FY 2000 Performance Goals:

A summary of budgeted resources for each of the Departmental goals supported by ESA.

A summary of ESA’s Performance Goals arrayed by ESA’s Strategic and Outcome Goals. This summary includes references to those Performance Goals in ESA’s Strategic Plan that originate subsequent to FY 2000 and do not appear in this Performance Plan.

Each of the FY 2000 Performance Goals and indicators are presented in tables by ESA Strategic and Outcome Goal with the alignment to the DOL goals. Each cluster of Performance Goals supporting an Outcome Goal is followed by the means and strategies that will be used by ESA in achieving the goals. Means and strategies for both sustained (continuing) efforts and new initiatives are identified.

The Performance Goal tables highlight the following:

DOL Strategic Goal – The Departmental goal which ESA’s performance goal supports.

DOL Outcome Goal – The Departmental outcome to be achieved relative to the Departmental Strategic Goal.

ESA Strategic Goal – The ESA Strategic Goal which ESA’s performance goal supports.

ESA Outcome Goal – The ESA Outcome Goal to be achieved relative to ESA Strategic Goal.

FY 2000 ESA Performance Goal – The specific targets relative to the DOL and ESA outcome goals, which will be accomplished in FY 2000. The FY 1999 targets are included. Each budget activity supporting the Performance Goal is identified.

FY 1999 Performance Goal Results – A brief statement of the end of year performance.

Supporting Budget Activity -- The program activity structure.

Indicator – The measures that will be used to assess progress towards performance goal accomplishment.

Source of Data – The measurement system(s) that will be used to collect performance indicator data.

Baseline – The baseline year and baseline level against which progress will be evaluated.

Comment – Issues related to goal accomplishment, measurement systems, and strategies that provide a context or description of the performance goal or indicator.

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ESA Budgeted Resources by DOL Strategic Goal

³ Includes Program Direction and Support overhead.

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Summary of ESA Performance Goals

Strategic Goal 1 and Performance Goals

Strategic Goal 2 and Performance Goals

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Performance Goals with Alignments to DOL and ESA

ESA Strategic Goal l: Create better workplaces by increasing employer and employee awareness of, commitment to, and involvement in assuring fair wages and equal employment opportunity, minimizing the impact of work-related injuries, and safeguarding union democracy.

ESA seeks to impact or change the behavior and practices of whole industries, particularly those in which violations are most likely to occur – the low-wage industries – and those employing young workers. These industries are also most likely to employ vulnerable workers who often won’t complain about violations or are less informed about their workplace rights. Domestic child labor is a priority of the Secretary and is included in this goal.

The FY 2000 performance goals and indicators for this Outcome Goal follow.

Note: Goals 1.1b and 1.1c are not included in FY 2000 APP (baselines for these goals to be established in FY 2002)

ESA Means and Strategies

Operating Program: Wage and Hour Division

Sustained Efforts in FY 2000:

• ESA will continue initiatives to increase compliance with labor standards by: targeting certain low-wage industries for focused education/outreach and enforcement interventions; targeting child labor compliance, particularly in agriculture and other selected industries where data indicate that the risk of serious injury to young workers is greatest; building partnerships with other governmental, non-governmental, and business organizations to promote compliance; and, enhancing the scope and effectiveness of education and enforcement interventions to obtain lasting future compliance. (1.1a, d, e, f)
• ESA will continue to measure compliance results achieved by establishing baselines of compliance in targeted industries through investigation-based compliance surveys, and conducting subsequent compliance surveys in those industries in which baselines have already been established. (1.1a, d, e, f)
• ESA will continue its initiative to rewrite the Child Labor Hazardous Orders to reflect current workplace technologies and hazards. ESA will continue to effectively respond to the requirements of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1990, and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. (1.1a, d, e, f)

Significant New or Enhanced Efforts in FY 2000:

• ESA will accelerate progress toward achieving labor law compliance, with particular emphasis on child labor, for garment and farm workers by providing needed additional resources for enforcement staff – increased in FY 1999 and FY 2000 – to make more effective and sustained interventions, including better detection of violations, more timely litigation, developing appropriate cases for criminal prosecution, and enhancing education and outreach efforts. While the Department has been vigorously pursuing and elaborating its compliance strategy in these sectors, progress is slow, worker exploitation is still very common, and it has become increasingly clear that sustained efforts are required. (1.1a, d, e, f)
• ESA will begin development of a Technology for Excellent Customer Service (TECS) system that will allow nationwide toll-free access to information and well-trained personnel to (1) promptly identify and refer calls unrelated to Wage and Hour activities to the appropriate agency; (2) answer commonly asked questions quickly and accurately; and (3) eventually accept complaints alleging violations and refer them electronically to the proper field office. (1.1a, d, e, f)
• Through its new initiative to increase voluntary compliance, ESA will establish non-traditional partnerships with intermediary organizations and institutions that provide services to workers and employers, such as health care employer and employee organizations to provide information about both FLSA compliance in health care facilities and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as it applies to their clients (and their clients’ families). ESA will seek to obtain help from these organizations in developing and disseminating information to their members to promote awareness, understanding, compliance, and the health care professions’ ability to recognize situations in which the benefits of FMLA may apply. (1.1a, d, e, f)

ESA Strategic Goal 1: Create better workplaces by increasing employer and employee awareness of, commitment to, and involvement in assuring fair wages and equal employment opportunity, minimizing the impact of work-related injuries, and safeguarding union democracy.

ESA safeguards union democracy and financial integrity in administering its responsibilities under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The timely resolution of complaints brought by union members under the LMRDA regarding union officer elections is an important safeguard for union democracy and a critical ESA responsibility. Enforcement actions that result from agency investigation of union funds embezzlement and other criminal violations are of vital importance in protecting union assets and financial integrity for the membership. The timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of union financial reports filed with ESA are central to a key objective of the LMRDA to promote and assist union democracy and financial integrity through the public disclosure of reported information.

 The FY 2000 performance goals and indicators for Outcome Goal 1.2 follow.

ESA’s Means and Strategies

Operating Program: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Sustained Efforts in FY 2000:

• ESA will investigate complaints concerning union officer elections, supervise remedial union officer elections, and conduct audits and civil and criminal investigations to enforce Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) standards for union democracy and financial integrity. ESA also will secure reports required from unions and others under the LMRDA and make them available for public disclosure. (1.2a, b, c, d)
• ESA will foster partnerships with international unions to promote voluntary compliance with LMRDA standards by affiliates and will provide compliance assistance to union officials. A program of compliance assistance contacts will be continued that targets unions scheduled to elect officers in FY 2000 whose previous election was investigated by the agency. A program of contacts at the field office level to obtain timely reports by unions with receipts of more than $200,000 that were delinquent in the prior year will be continued. A program of seminars for trustees of small unions will be continued to provide assistance and training in use of the agency-developed guide for trustees in conducting audits in small unions. ESA will provide outreach to union members to promote the objectives of the LMRDA. (1.2a, b, c, d)

Significant New or Enhanced Efforts in FY 2000:

• ESA will advance a project initiated in FY 1998 to develop computer-based improvements to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) reporting and disclosure processes, including a system for electronic submission of the LM 2, 3, and 4 union financial reports, a computer database of information from these reports that is accessible through the Internet, and a computerized system for desk-auditing filed LM 2, 3, and 4 reports. (1.2c, d)
• ESA will deploy a new "self-audit" program for local unions with less than $50,000 in annual receipts. (1.2c, d)

ESA Strategic Goal 1: Create better workplaces by increasing employer and employee awareness of, commitment to, and involvement in assuring fair wages and equal employment opportunity, minimizing the impact of work-related injuries, and safeguarding union democracy.

ESA’s Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program places its strategic emphasis on prompt adjudication and payment of benefits, early intervention in new injuries to reduce days lost from work, active disability management, and prompt and appropriate return to the workplace. FECA also promotes joint efforts with employers and claimant representatives in assisting workers, reporting disability promptly, and making work available early. As FECA provides better information to customers and stakeholders through improved technology, agencies and unions can play a role in relaying accurate, timely information between injured workers and FECA, making all employees aware of safety and compensation issues. FECA can also help agencies provide appropriate light duty job opportunities, and effectively manage compensation costs.

The FY 2000 performance goals and indicators for this Outcome Goal follow.

ESA’s Means and Strategies

Operating Program: Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs

Sustained Efforts in FY 2000:

• ESA promotes a secure workforce by making its Federal Employees’ Compensation Program a model for workers’ compensation programs. FECA’s non-adversarial structure allows ESA to work in partnership with employee unions and Federal agencies to achieve better outcomes. ESA will emphasize early return to work as a winning outcome for both workers and employers. (1.3a, b)
• To support the Federal Worker 2000 Presidential Initiative, ESA will report agency progress in reducing disability days against a baseline. (1.3a)
• ESA will continue the Quality Case Management Program in which new injury cases receive early intervention from nurses allowing case management to begin at a point when it can be much more effective. Working with all Federal employing agencies, ESA will promote light duty and other new job opportunities for returning workers to work, and speed the flow of information to improve the quality of case handling. (1.3a, b)
• Periodic Roll Management, expanded in FY 1999 and incorporated into FECA’s overall case management process, will continue to review long term cases on the disability roll and reevaluate case status for change in medical condition and potential for return to work. (1.3a)

Significant New or Enhanced Efforts in FY 2000:

• The additional resources provided in FY 2000 will enable FECA to purchase and install document imaging hardware and software and upgrade local area and wide area networks. FECA district offices will begin imaging new injury claim documents. (1.3a, b)
• ESA will take the lead in working in partnership with all Federal employing agencies to speed new injury reporting so that earlier case management can begin, improve the flow of information to improve the quality of case handling, and promote light duty and other new job opportunities for returning workers to work. (1.3a, b)

ESA Strategic Goal 1: Create better workplaces by increasing employer and employee awareness of, commitment to, and involvement in assuring fair wages and equal employment opportunity, minimizing the impact of work-related injuries, and safeguarding union democracy.

Under Federal transit law, the Agency certifies that fair and equitable protective arrangements are in place for transit employees when Federal grant funds are used to acquire, improve, or operate a transit system. The issuance of these certifications within established timeframes is critical to protecting the rights of mass transit workers affected by these projects.

The FY 2000 performance goal and indicator for Outcome Goal 1.4 follow.

ESA’s Means and Strategies

Operating Program: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Sustained Efforts in FY 2000:

• ESA will issue employee benefit protection certifications in a streamlined manner to ensure the timely release of federal transit grant funds by the Department of Transportation (DOT). (1.4a)

ESA Strategic Goal 1: Create better workplaces by increasing employer and employee awareness of, commitment to, and involvement in assuring fair wages and equal employment opportunity, minimizing the impact of work-related injuries, and safeguarding union democracy.

Protection of civil rights and assurances of quality workplaces should not be solely dependent upon finding violations. Excellent quality and readily available public education, outreach, and technical assistance result in an increased number of contractors found in compliance. This helps prevent discrimination in the workplace. Interactive technical assistance web applications, successful town hall meetings, quality and relevant outreach and public education are deterrents to discrimination. A Secretarial priority and a special focus for ESA are issues involving equal pay.

The FY 2000 performance goals and indicators for this Outcome Goal follow.